Method and apparatus for identifying neighboring device

• US 9,002,382 B2
• Filed: 01/28/2008
• Issued: 04/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Ko, Chang-seog, Park, Hyun-cheol, Kim, Young-sun, Choi, Yoo-jin
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Dung
• Application Number:
  US12/020,751
• Publication Number:
  US 20090011707A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,626 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/456.3, 455/456.6, 455/457, 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/41.1, 455/41.2
• US Class Current: 455/457
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

A method and apparatus for identifying a neighboring device are provided. The method of identifying a neighboring device, which is performed in a user terminal, includes: obtaining identification information and location information of a plurality of neighboring devices that can wirelessly communicate with the user terminal; extracting the identification information of one of the neighboring devices, the neighboring device being in the actual location range within the field of vision of the user terminal; and using the extracted identification information to request that the neighboring device perform wireless communication with the user terminal. According to the method and apparatus, identification information of a neighboring device with which a user terminal desires to perform wireless communication can be obtained using a viewfinder or liquid crystal display of the user terminal.

Claims

1. A method of identifying a neighboring device, which is performed in a user terminal, the method comprising:

obtaining an actual location range within a field of vision provided through one of a viewfinder and a display of the user terminal, wherein the actual location range is within a predetermined range for short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal;

receiving, at the user terminal, identification information and location information of a plurality of neighboring devices that can wirelessly communicate with the user terminal within the predetermined range, directly from the plurality of neighboring devices;

extracting, at the user terminal, identification information of at least one neighboring device among the plurality of neighboring devices, based on the actual location range within the field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal and the received location information and the identification information of the plurality of neighboring devices, the at least one neighboring device being in the actual location range within the field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal;

receiving a selection of a neighboring device among the at least one neighboring device; and

requesting, based on the extracted identification information, the selected neighboring device to perform short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining the actual location range within the field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal comprises:

obtaining the location information of the user terminal;

obtaining the field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal; and

obtaining the actual location range within the field of vision of the user terminal based on the location information and the field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the obtaining the location information of the user terminal comprises:

receiving a global positioning system (GPS) signal from a satellite; and

obtaining the location information of the user terminal based on the received GPS signal.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the obtaining the location information of the user terminal comprises:

receiving a wireless signal from a base station; and

obtaining the location information of the user terminal based on the received wireless signal.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the location information of the user terminal comprises at least one of latitude, longitude, direction of the field of vision, and altitude.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

obtaining from the at least one neighboring device identification information of other devices belonging to the user of the neighboring device which is requested to perform short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal; and

requesting, based on the obtained identification information of the other devices, the other devices to perform short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the extracting the identification information of the at least one neighboring device within the field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal comprises:

selecting at least one neighboring device, which is located in the actual location range within the field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal, among the plurality of neighboring devices that can perform short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal; and

extracting the identification information of the selected neighboring device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

photographing neighboring devices within the field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal and generating a media signal; and

requesting the neighboring devices within the field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal to perform short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal and transmitting the media signal to the neighboring devices.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the short-distance wireless communication comprises short-distance wireless communication using at least one of wireless local area network, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and WiBro technologies.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the short-distance location information of the neighboring device comprises at least one of latitude, longitude, direction of the field of vision, and altitude.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the short-distance wireless communication comprises short-distance wireless communication using at least one of wireless local area network, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and WiBro technologies.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the selection of the neighboring device among the at least one neighboring device comprises:

displaying on the viewfinder of the user terminal the at least one neighboring device located within the field of vision provided through the viewfinder of the user terminal; and

receiving the selection of the neighboring device, which is to be requested to perform short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal, among the displayed neighboring devices; and

requesting the selected neighboring device to perform short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the displaying the neighboring devices comprises:

converting the locations of the at least one neighboring device to locations on the viewfinder, based on the location information of the at least one neighboring device within the field of vision, the location information of the user terminal, a viewing angle of the user terminal, and a size of the viewfinder of the user terminal; and

displaying the at least one neighboring device on the converted locations on the viewfinder.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the receiving the selection of the neighboring device is performed using one of a keyboard, a touchpad, a touch screen, a joystick, a mouse, and a remote controller.

15. A user terminal for identifying a neighboring device, the user terminal comprising:

a location information processing unit which obtains an actual location range within a field of vision provided through one of a viewfinder or a display of the user terminal, and extracts, at the user terminal, based on identification information and location information of a plurality of neighboring device received from the plurality of neighboring devices, identification information of at least one neighboring device in the actual location range within the field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal, wherein the actual location range is within a predetermined range for short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal;

an input and output unit which receives a selection of a neighboring device among the at least one neighboring device located within the field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal;

a wireless communication unit which receives the identification information and location information of the plurality of neighboring devices from the plurality of neighboring devices, and requests, based on identification information of the selected neighboring device, the selected neighboring device to perform short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal; and

a media signal processing unit which photographs a view within a field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal and generates a media signal.

16. The user terminal of claim 15, wherein the location information of the neighboring device comprises at least one of latitude, longitude, direction of the field of vision, and altitude.

17. The user terminal of claim 15, wherein the short-distance wireless communication comprises short-distance wireless communication using at least one of wireless local area network, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and WiBro technologies.

18. The user terminal of claim 15, wherein the wireless communication unit obtains from the at least one neighboring device identification information of other devices belonging to the user of the neighboring device which is requested to perform short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal, requests, based on the obtained identification information of the other devices, the other devices to perform short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal.

19. The user terminal of claim 15, wherein the location information processing unit comprises:

a global positioning system (GPS) signal reception unit which receives a GPS signal from a GPS satellite;

a location calculation unit which obtains the location information of the user terminal by using the received GPS signal, and obtains, based on the location information of the user terminal, the actual location range within the field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal; and

a neighboring device location processing unit which stores the identification information and location information of the plurality of neighboring devices received from the plurality of neighboring devices, and extracts identification information of the at least one neighboring device in the location range within the field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal.

20. The user terminal of claim 19, wherein the location information of the user terminal comprises at least one of latitude, longitude, the direction of the field of vision, and altitude.

21. The user terminal of claim 19, wherein the

input and output unit displays the at least one neighboring device located within the field of vision of the viewfinder of the user terminal, and receives a selection of the neighboring device, which is to be requested to perform short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal, among the displayed neighboring devices;

and

wherein the user terminal further comprises;

a control unit which controls the apparatus so that identification information of the at least one neighboring device located within the field of vision can be obtained and the at least one neighboring device can be requested to perform short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal; and

a memory unit which stores programs required for controlling the apparatus.

22. The user terminal of claim 21, wherein the neighboring device location processing unit converts the location of the at least n neighboring device located within the field of vision provided through one of the viewfinder and the display of the user terminal into the location on the viewfinder of the user terminal, and

the input and output unit displays the at least one neighboring device at the converted location.

23. The user terminal of claim 21, wherein the short-distance wireless communication comprises short-distance wireless communication using at least one of wireless local area network, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and WiBro technologies.